Suspect's Reviews

I didn't mind San Andreas. It was better than i thought it would be, but it was still kind of cheesy.

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I've not seen San Andreas, but it always looked like the kind of thing you saw at the cinema or didn't bother with at all.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Fixed.

Nope. It's not that kind of movie.

More the kind of movie of which trailer you saw at the cinema and decided during the first 5 seconds that it wasn't something you would bother with at all.

Yet, we both saw it.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

I know San Andreas has taken a bit of a kicking on here but I still fancy watching it someday. I do enjoy a good old disaster flick and I'll give just about anything a chance that has Dwayne Johnson in it, one of the most likeable screen personalities around just now

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As authentic as the paper towns the characters speak of, here is a film fooling itself into thinking it is something it is not. Paper Towns, much like the character of Margo, has no idea what it wants to be. Is it a coming of age film? A mystery? A high school comedy? Or is it a road trip flick? It simply has no idea, so it throws as many genres to the wall and sees what sticks. In an age where YA novels are being filmed at a rate faster than Taylor Swift goes through boyfriends, Paper Towns is a quick cash in on the success of the author's previous effort, The Fault In Our Stars.

Quentin, or Q, because giving him a cool nickname somehow gives him character development, falls in love with the new girl across the street, Margo. It's love at first sight, but don't tell him it's lust because it's LOVE DAMMIT. They instantly become friends, but as they grow older, they drift apart. High school hits and Q is still in love with Margo, only she barely gives him the time of day. Instead she'd rather build up the 'mystery' of Margo. One night she climbs in through his window and convinces him to help her with a night a debauchery. Much to his surprise, it's one of the best nights of his life and he's never felt closer to her. He hopes that tomorrow will be different for them, but there is no tomorrow for them. Margo has disappeared, no one knows where she is. Q convinces himself that she has left clues for him and goes on a mission to find her.

One of the aspects of the film that instantly put me off of it was the portrayal of Margo. She's a too cool for school hipster who spits out eloquence that seems out of place. The moment I knew I did not like her character, or how she was written was when she declared her love of random capitalization because the rules are unfair to the letters in the middle. It's distractingly annoying and it doesn't help that Cara Delevingne isn't particularly likable in the role. The alternative mysterious girl has been done before and a lot better in my opinion. On the flip side of things, Nat Wolff as Q, the helpless loser who finally steps out of his comfort zone to pursue love, was decent. Alas, it is something that has been done before. Wolff does fine here, he doesn't distract from the role or the material. His two best friends fill their clichéd high school roles well enough. The sex crazed friend (Dude, your mom is so hot, I want to have sex with her) and the token black friend whose whole character depth involves his family collecting black Santas. He has a girlfriend and they want to have sex too, but want to wait until prom. I'm not positive, but I'm sure that has never been done in a high school comedy before.

If Me Early & The Dying Girl came off as pretentious, this film comes off as desperately wanting to be, but it never finds the right balance of talent to pull it off. One third of the film is good, that's when they decide to take a road trip and the film veers into yet another direction. The best character interactions happen during this sequences and I would have preferred the film to be solely about that. Instead we are stuck with a soulless piece of YA fiction that will be drowned in the sea of countless others. The film wants you to think it has a message, that people are not who you want them to be. That life is NOT like the movies and everything doesn't go your way. Paper Towns is so deep with its understanding of young adults wanting to fit in, not wanting to fit in that it feels the need to have a gag about pissing in a coke can then spilling it on another character. What?

It's a little too late for any of it to take. By the time Q decides to go after her, I was checked out, heck I was probably checked out well before that. Paper Towns is...I hate to say it because I'm sure I'm not the first one...a paper thin film.

+1 for the obligatory movie critic one-liner ending. I don't use it myself but I'm always glad to see one.

As for the film itself, I have zero interest in checking it out. Even if I was a teenager.

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Yeah, I didn't want to use that one-liner but I feel like everyone who trashed the film did, so why not.

Mike Flanagan is one for two in my books. His first big film was Absentia, which was a slow boring mess of a film. Interesting ideas, but nothing much else was going on in the film. His second output was a vast improvement, Oculus. Flanagan showed promise and improvement, which made me interested in seeing what else he had for future projects. Well, he has two films coming out in 2016 and I want to talk about Hush, his take on the home invasion sub-genre.

Home invasion films have been done to death. Some are great (You're Next), some are tolerable (The Strangers) and some are downright terrible (When A Stranger Calls, 2006). So how does one make their home invasion film stand out from the rest? There has to be some twist on the story to make it memorable. You're Next was a great deconstruction of the genre itself and had the heroine be a survival specialist. The twist Hush brings us lies in the fact that our protagonist if completely deaf.

The key element that makes or breaks this film is the sound design. I felt like the crew pulled it off and we have a solid thriller on our hands here. Maddie is a deaf author and she has secluded herself in a house in the woods to write her next book. Problems arise when someone outside her house decides to play a deadly game with Maddie and know she has to keep him out and escape alive. Again, this is a simple premise that is only made interesting by the fact that she is deaf and how the filmmakers decide to handle that aspect of the story.

While the film does inevitably go down routine routes with the story, Flanagan does so with skill and finesse. Multiple times throughout the film we are in Maddie's shoes as Flanagan completely mutes the audio. We see the terror happening behind her, but we cannot hear it. He can be entering the house at any point and we will not know. Flanagan manages to seep the viewer in suspense throughout the whole film and while there are some gory and squeamish scenes, he doesn't rely on them. They feel real and earned. Looking back at the film there are multiple sequences where I was taken back or had a huge grin on my face with the ingenuity of it all.

People will ultimately try to find inconsistencies with how the film handles the deaf aspect. I had maybe one issue myself, but can look past it for the benefit of the enjoyment I ultimately had because of the film. With a small cast of only four people and hardly any dialogue (maybe 15 minutes total?) Hush is a well crafted film that earns a viewing from anyone who likes this genre.

My Hitchcock viewing has been very limited. This marks my fifth film from the master of suspense and it lands near the top. Very meticulous thriller that had me excited to see where it would go and I wonder why it took me so long watch this gem. Then again, I've yet to see a lot of Hitchcock so I'm wondering why it's taking me so long to see others.

Tony discovers that his wife is having an affair and plots to have the perfect murder done. When things don't go according to plan, he somehow manages to come up with a brilliant plan B.

Most of this film, much like Hitchcock's brilliant Rear Window takes place inside an apartment. Despite the lack of varied settings, this did not distract from any of the tension the film brilliantly builds upon. I had myself thinking numerous steps ahead trying to figure out how he could get away with such a thing, or how I would try and catch him. Things get a little convoluted once the issue of apartment keys come into play and I think it distracts from the actual film itself, but despite that, this film was a lot of fun.

Grace Kelly, beautiful as always, plays Margot, the intended victim. Most of her performance is reactionary but serviceable, the real stand out in my opinion is the quick witted Tony Wendice played by the suave Ray Milland. At times I found myself hoping he would get away with it, other times I wanted to see his brilliant plan fall apart. Hitchcock balances the tightrope pretty well here. Each obstacle that gets in Tony's way, he manages to side step. I kept wondering how or if he would eventually get caught.

I do have one issue though and it involves those damn keys. I'll wrap it in spoilers for those interested in seeing this film, but like me, have ignored it for so long.



^^^ Those issues bring the film down a bit in my opinion. What was otherwise a sharp and well written suspense film becomes...well... a lesser well written suspense film. This film could have been a solid 5 popcorns....

I still highly enjoyed it and immediately put more Hitchcock up on my "To Watch List".

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I know the reason for doing those things, from the inspectors perspective, but logically it doesn't make any sense. He doesn't lock the door when he leaves, that's the question I'm asking.

Ha, I just downloaded Dial M For Murder as Ive never seen it, and it was a film Yoda specifically mentioned in fav character fav film thread. TUS likes it too so I know itll be a keeper.

Great review for Dial M for Murder! If you are planning to watch more Hitchcock (especially for the 50s list) definitely watch North by Northwest, it id my favorite of his.

Watched Vertigo, I liked it. Not sure what my next Hitchcock will be, either North by Northwest or The Birds.

North by Northwest

Closest I came to seeing Vertigo was Mel Brooks High Anxiety. It was good

Superhero fatigue is a problem that many people think is starting to settle in. Fantastic Four was an abysmal film and it made less than Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice received terrible reviews and had one of the biggest Friday to Sunday drops. Are people sick of these films? Well, not if you're in the Marvel family it seems. For one thing, Marvel actually takes pride and careful attention to detail with their films, both the previously mentioned titles are rush jobs for specific reasons. Civil War is proof that the good guy vs good guy aspect of superhero films can be done right.

The world wants to hold the Avengers accountable for all the death and destruction they've caused over the years, so the United Nations put together the Sokovia Accords, which means the Avengers would work for them. Tony Stark supports this. Steve Rogers does not. Things get more complicated when Bucky turns up again and is the prime suspect in a bombing that kills dozens of people. With two prominent members of the Avengers on opposing sides of the issue, will the team ever be the same again?

Civil War has a lot going for it. Stellar cast, great characters, top-notch special effects, excellent action sequences, comedic relief and...well the list goes on. The Russo brothers have delivered a slick action film that makes me comfortable with the fact that they seem to be at the helm of the Marvel franchise now. When The Avengers was first announced, I thought it was going to be dreadful, then they said these guy named Joss Whedon was going to be directing it and my expectations instantly changed. Whedon delivered a great superhero film that set up the rest of the films to come. The Russo brothers now have the task of juggling all these characters and they do an admirable job.

Each character has their shining moments, but the core of the story is Stark vs Rogers. So while it's fun to have Rudd come in and have a few laughs, I don't think anyone is expecting huge things from his character. Same with Spider-Man, who is forced in here to set up his future films within this weird shared universe with Sony. Those are not complaints, they both work wonderfully in the film. If I were to find a complaint it would be in the thought process of the villain, Zemo. His plan is so painstakingly convoluted that I wonder how it even worked at all. Too many things need to fall in place for him to get what he wants and it distracts from the emotional power of the climax. The actors and the history with the characters manage to save it a bit and do raise the stakes, but I had my problems nonetheless.

The grand spectacle at the airport between these characters was indeed a highlight. When you have characters like Vision and Scarlet Witch, who are so powerful they could end the fight instantly, it's a good idea to have them simply do damage control. I wondered how they would handle these two, they did a decent job of it. After this film, I can only hope that Infinity Wars goes this route and gives each Avenger a worthy foe to fight and not a hoard of mindless foot soldiers, which is exactly what the previous two Avengers films did.

Fans of the series will be pleased, the action is great (a bit shaky at first, but they let it breath later on) and some great introductions of new characters that will bring a fresh perspective to the franchise. Black Panther for one, steals a lot of the scenes he is in. Bold move to have such a big character "show up" in the film without a solo movie to set him up, but it works here. The cast is diversifying as more and more characters come into these films and I'm glad to see it. Tony Stark is great, RDJ does a great job with him, but we've seen the guy have a big role in these films 6 times now. I get that Marvel is scared to let some of these characters go because they are so integral to everything, but I honestly believe something along these lines needs to happen to bring more emotional depth to the franchise. For a studio willing to take chances are projects like Guardians of the Galaxy, they need to take a chance on this aspect as well.

I liked Burn After Reading too...I thought Brad Pitt stole the film.